When Charles Onu’s cousin was born with birth asphyxia and later developed a hearing condition, the seed for Ubenwa, an audio biometric company geared at identifying neurological disorders in infants, was also planted.

Onu, CEO and co-founder, said he hopes Ubenwa will change the way physicians provide care to infants.

“We’re trying to bring the world to a point where infant cries are considered to be a vital sign just as much as we would consider their heart rate to be a vital sign,” he explained in an interview with TechCrunch.

After Onu graduated with his undergrad in engineering he volunteered with health-based NGO’s and saw more cases like his cousin’s — though some were far grimmer.

The Montreal-based company uses an infant’s cry to determine if it falls within the range of having signs of a neurological condition. Crying audio is collected at partner hospitals, internationally, and then categorized into what is considered normal or abnormal. From there, the company can predict whether a child may be suffering from a potential disorder.

For now, the AI-powered software only identifies early signs of birth asphyxia, and can potentially determine learning milestones based on cry triggers. According to Onu, the company is hoping to evolve the technology to identify congenital heart disease.

It should be noted that a recent Stanford University study identified that some FDA approved AI medical devices are “not adequately” evaluated and there are no best practices set for the development of these technologies.

But to Ubenwa’s credit, they are performing studies in pursuit of building out the case for the science behind their tech further still.

For those actually using the application, they record the baby crying and then receive weekly summaries of patterns. If there is an abnormality detected, the application notifies the user and provides data to share with doctors.

“Today, doctors use physical assessment to look at eyelids, look at the skin tone, and so on and so forth,” Onu said. “If [doctors] are really worried it could be with an MRI or a brain MRI machine because that’s the ultimate standard, but we don’t live in an MRI machine every day. That is costly. With simple cry analysis you can track neurological biomarkers on an ongoing basis, non invasively.”

Despite the company being based out of Canada, they have additional operations in Nigeria (where Onu is originally from) and Brazil. The company partners with hospitals in those regions in order to get larger sample sizes for their data. Despite the fact that users will be recording cries, Onu said, those cries will not be collected and store: Analysis of the cries will be matched to their existing database.

Although Ubenwa has a focus on an infant’s cry, other companies are using audio biometrics to help diagnose other conditions, but typically for an older age group. StethoMe says they use breath to identify air pathway disorders in children and share that data with physicians. Similarly, Ellipsis Health claims to use voice biomarkers to diagnose depression in patients.

To date, …read more

https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/25/can-a-babys-cry-identify-neurological-disorders-ubenwa-says-yes/

Building a startup takes money. Not exactly a newsflash, is it? At a time when every dollar counts, this is a reminder that you have only five days left to take advantage of early-bird pricing on passes to TechCrunch Disrupt on October 18–20.

The early bird flies the coop on July 29 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. Buy your pass before the deadline expires and save up to $1,300.

Disrupt amounts to three days of masterclasses in the art and science of building, funding, launching and scaling successful early-stage startups. That’s not just us honking our own horn. Listen to what other attendees say about why Disrupt matters.

“Tech startups go to Disrupt to show off their stuff. It’s the perfect place to scope out the competition, network with potential investors, get a feel for how other companies position themselves and to see what’s trending.” — Jessica McLean, director of Marketing and Communications, Infinite-Compute.

“Disrupt is a great sweet spot, and highly valuable, for anyone in the idea stage all the way through to having raised some angel money. Soak up the pitch feedback sessions and the VC presentations. They’re telling you what they’re looking for, what motivates them, what pushes them to contact you for a meeting. And that’s exactly what every startup raising capital needs to know.” — Michael McCarthy, CEO, Repositax.

“Disrupt was a great place to look for potential partners beyond our blockchain world. We got to meet and collaborate with founders in complementary technologies like IoT and AI. Building those relationships will help all of us provide customers with better solutions. It’s a win-win.” — Joel Neidig, founder of SIMBA Chain.

Yep, there’s plenty of opportunity waiting for you at Disrupt. Here’s just a quick taste of what you can expect.

• Learn how to raise your first dollars
• Apply to the Startup Battlefield 200 for a free, perk-packed VIP experience and a shot at $100,000 — but hurry! Submit your application before July 31 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.
• Check out all the different ways to network.
• Explore crypto’s changing landscape.

TechCrunch Disrupt 2022 takes place in San Francisco on October 18–20 with an online day on October 21. Make every dollar count. Buy your pass before the early-bird deal disappears on July 29 at 11:59 p.m. PDT and save up to $1,300.

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

…read more

https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/25/only-five-days-left-to-save-up-to-1300-on-passes-to-disrupt/

The Shenzhen-based company saw sales of electric vehicles and hybrids skyrocket as rivals such as Tesla suffered plant shutdowns elsewhere. …read more

https://www.wsj.com/articles/warren-buffett-backed-chinese-car-maker-byd-zooms-past-rivals-11658754000?mod=rss_Technology

Your chance to step into a huge spotlight of opportunity and industry, investor and media exposure comes to a screeching halt this week. I’m talking about the Startup Battlefield 200, a handpicked cohort of companies that will take TechCrunch Disrupt by storm on October 18–21 in San Francisco.

If you think you have what it takes to become part of the exclusive SBF 200, get moving because the deadline to submit your application expires this Sunday, July 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Take a gander at what the SBF 200 VIP experience includes:

• Access to all the Disrupt presentations, breakouts and roundtables.
• Exhibition space for all three days of Disrupt. Note: Only SBF 200 startups are allowed to exhibit at Disrupt.
• SBF 200-only masterclasses.
• Pitch training with TC staff.
• Pitch deck reviews with industry experts.
• The opportunity to flash-pitch investors and TechCrunch editors.
• Exclusive investor networking opportunities.
• Media exposure.
• One free year of TechCrunch+ membership.

But wait … there’s a huge “there’s more.”

TC editors will choose 20 of the SBF 200 startups to compete for $100,000 as finalists in the Startup Battlefield pitch competition. You can’t compete if you’re not part of the SBF 200 cohort.

The Startup Battlefield Finalists also receive additional, private pitch coaching to prepare them to pitch to our panel of judges — live in front of the entire Disrupt audience. Only one standout startup will win the day, the glory and the $100,000.

This could be a trajectory-changing experience, but you only get a shot if you apply to the Startup Battlefield 200 by July 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Get it done, and we hope to welcome you into the SBF 200 fold at TechCrunch Disrupt in October.

Not quite ready to take that particular leap? Buy a pass to Disrupt before the early-bird price expires on July 29 at 11:59 p.m. PT, and you can save up to $1,300.

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

…read more

https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/25/applications-to-the-startup-battlefield-200-close-this-week/

Tesla chief’s liaison with Google co-founder’s wife led to couple’s divorce filing, according to people familiar with the matter. …read more

https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-affair-sergey-brin-wife-divorce-11658674840?mod=rss_Technology

Looking at Latin America’s socioeconomic conditions these days, you can find plenty of reasons to be pessimistic or at least daunted by how much is left to improve. Sure, problems are also opportunities, but what if there are just too many hurdles to overcome in the near future?

And yet, despite the worsening global and local macroeconomic climate, unicorns keep being minted in the region. For instance, Ecuadorian payments infrastructure company Kushki doubled its valuation to $1.5 billion in June.

Kushki’s unicorn-level valuation was reached through a $100 million extension to its Series B round, with preexisting investors doubling down on the company. Clocktower Technology Ventures (CTV) was one of its investors in the round, and it remains bullish not only about Kushki, but also about fintech in Latin America overall.

An affiliate of Santa Monica, California-based macro investment firm Clocktower Group, fintech-focused venture arm CTV launched its first fund dedicated to Latin America in 2021. Its stated target? Investing $25 million in 40 Latin American fintechs at the seed and Series A stages.

While CTV’s Latin American strategy is multiyear, we thought the one-year mark was a good time to reach out to partner Ben Savage and discuss the fund’s latest thoughts on the region. We learned that its thesis remains unchanged, but also that there are new factors to take into account, such as growing needs for SMB-focused solutions and financial inclusion.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What aroused CTV’s interest in raising a strategy dedicated to investing in financial innovation in LatAm?

We launched our Latin America strategy in the spring of 2021 in part because we believe fintech will be at the vanguard of technological innovation in Latin America, creating an opportunity for new companies to displace or disrupt the existing system.

…read more

https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/25/why-clocktower-technology-ventures-is-still-bullish-on-latin-american-fintechs/

The revenue-sharing feature is the social-media platform’s latest move to combat rival TikTok. …read more

https://www.wsj.com/articles/meta-to-let-facebook-creators-earn-money-for-videos-with-music-11658762053?mod=rss_Technology

Given the recent economic downturn, some companies are skeptical that the pandemic-led move to remote and hybrid work will have staying power. According to an April survey by Good Hire, 77% of managers said they’d considering firing employees or cutting their pay for refusing to return to the office. Most expressed concerns about remote employees’ perceived lack of focus, negative impact on company culture, and productivity issues.

Oscar Mattsson is of a different opinion. That’s not shocking — his startup, Allwhere, sells businesses tools for facilitating remote work. Emerging from stealth today with $9.5 million in seed funding from DESCOvery, Allwhere aims to work with companies to implement remote work setups, manage the lifecycle of equipment from procurement to disposal, and craft onboarding, engagement, retention, and wellness programs, Mattson said.

“While the current market is temporary, the new ethos that’s emerged regarding flexibility and employee wellness is permanent. Teams have realized that they can work just as efficiently using a distributed model, and a strict return-to-office plan often leads to losing top contributors even in a recession,” Mattson said. “[But] after two years of remote and hybrid work, nearly half of knowledge workers still do not have the tools they need to do their job. As a result, budgets are lost, and employees are stretched thin, which is why companies outsource these tasks in the first place.”

Mattsson began his career at WeWork, where he was a founding member of the company’s enterprise division before working with partners to expand WeWork into daycare, food and beverage, mobility, and other areas. While he saw WeWork through its low points, Mattsson says he ultimately saw the value in services that enable flexible work.

Mattsson founded Allwhere in 2021 within DESCOvery, D.E. Shaw’s venture studio, where he was joined by WeWork alumni Ben Kessler (Allwhere’s chief marketing officer) and Josh Rosenthal (head of customer experience).

“I saw a gap in the market for a solution that catered to the needs of businesses that were adapting to a newly remote, hybrid, and distributed world,” Mattsson said. “Allwhere is an Old English term meaning ‘everywhere,’ which aligns with our mission to support employees and employers in any type of workplace.”

Allwhere furnishes corporate customers with employee equipment, products, tools, and perks, even going so far as to find vendors and suppliers. In addition to installation and retrieval of office hardware, furniture, and accessories, Allwhere provides wellness programs, subscriptions, gifts, IT hardware repairs and upgrades, and more.

Using Allwhere, companies can build their own white-labeled “stores” with configurable kits and HR and IT process integrations. Dashboards allow management to oversee the doling out of equipment, wellness, and perks as well as budgets and status updates. Meanwhile, when provided a link to the aforementioned store, employees can select the equipment, benefits, and services they need and get tracking information as well as pick-up and delivery options for any applicable equipment.

Mattsson says Allwhere has worked with customers looking to onboard new hires with …read more

https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/25/allwhere-launches-out-of-stealth-to-help-companies-manage-their-remote-workforces/

Instacart announced today that Electronic Benefits Transfer and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (EBT SNAP) can now be used to buy groceries online in 10 additional states through its app. The 10 states are Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Instacart says Albertsons Companies and Sprouts Farmers Market are among the first to accept EBT SNAP online in these states. With this expansion, grocers of all sizes can use Carrot Payments, an Instacart Platform solution, to accept EBT SNAP payments online across 49 states and Washington D.C.

“At Instacart, our goal is to continue unlocking access to nutritious food for those who need it most,” said Sarah Mastrorocco, the Vice President of Access to Food & Nutrition at Instacart, in a statement. “We’ve long advocated to expand online EBT SNAP acceptance, and we’re proud to bring this critical service to people in 10 additional states in partnership with grocers that people know, love and trust. Our partners offer a broad selection of fresh food and pantry staples, and with this expansion, we’re giving more families access to nourishment, paired with the convenience of same-day delivery and pickup.”

The company launched EBT SNAP payments in November 2020 and has since expanded the program to include over 40 retailers. With these expansions, Instacart says it now powers EBT SNAP payments for more than 60 retail banners spanning more than 8,000 stores. Instacart offers EBT SNAP acceptance through the Instacart Platform, a suite of enterprise-grade solutions that help enhance and digitize retail experiences. EBT SNAP participants can shop for pickup or delivery via the Instacart App and grocers’ Instacart Platform-powered websites and apps.

…read more

https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/25/instacart-expands-ebt-snap-payments-program-10-states/

General Motors launched a program Monday to educate car shoppers on electric vehicles and target first-time buyers as the automaker searches for ways to catch up to and outpace rival Tesla.

The automakers hopes EV Live, a digital platform that connects shoppers with EV specialists, will speed EV adoption and create a larger market for its new battery-electric models, including the just-launched Chevrolet Blazer SS. Available seven days a week, EV Live provides real-time answers on EV-related questions such as how to use a public charging network or install a home charging station.

Addressing “common misconceptions about EVs will accelerate widespread EV adoption,” said Hoss Hassani, GM vice president of EV Ecosystem.

Users can learn more about EV technology, sustainability and mobile apps through one-on-one live video tours, where the specialist can hear but not see the user. GM said it plans to add group tours and pre-recorded sessions later this year.

U.S. sales of new EVs rose 13%, to 196,788 units, between April and June 2022, compared with the first three months of the year, according to Cox Automotive. However, a lack of education around battery-electric cars, trucks and SUVs remains a barrier to adoption, according to a Consumer Reports survey released this month. American drivers surveyed reported confusion over how EVs work, charge their batteries and unlock tax incentives.

“EV Live lets us meet people where they are and have a real conversation about electrification,” Hassani said. “We’re selling the EV experience, rather than specific EVs.”

EV Live is among a range of initiatives the automaker announced this summer to supplement its $750 million investment in charging infrastructure. In July, GM said it plans to partner with Pilot Flying J to build out a national DC fast-charging network for EVs.

The automaker said in June it will equip its battery-electric models with “Plug and Charge” capability to help standardize public charging. Charging logistics is the top barrier to purchasing or leasing an EV, with 61% of drivers surveyed reported concern, according to Consumer Reports.

…read more

https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/25/gm-launches-ev-live-to-educate-car-shoppers/